


Drive By

by HockeyMatchmaking



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Song fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-07
Updated: 2013-01-07
Packaged: 2017-11-24 00:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/628145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HockeyMatchmaking/pseuds/HockeyMatchmaking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But he'd seen figures that look like Carts so many times that he didn't approach the person. He hated the dropping feeling in his stomach when the person turned around, and they looked nothing like his friend. Richie sighed and ran a hand over his face, trying to stop a desperate sob from escaping. He slowly began trudging back to his apartment as he remembered that one perfect night with his friend, right before everything went wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drive By

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely unbeta'd so don't expect it to be perfect.
> 
> Oh, and I in no way own any part of the song Drive By by Train, plus I don't own any of the characters in this story. This is all fiction and has not, to my knowledge, ever happened in real life.

Mike Richards sighed and checked his phone for the umpteenth time that day. Damn, Carts still wasn't texting him back. Oh well, he hadn't really expected his best friend (ex-best friend?) to suddenly start texting him back. It had been almost 6 months since they'd played for the same team, or even talked to each other.

He looked across the street, thinking about jay-walking through the busy traffic. It would certainly be faster than crossing at one of the lights, which took for fucking ever to change, and were almost guaranteed to be red the way you wanted to cross. But this was L.A., and Richie couldn't be bothered to obey the law if no one else would.

Wait. _What?_ Richie wondered, doing a double take as he spotted a familiar figure standing beside a bus stop. Jeff? He wondered, and one of the people passing by gave him a strange look. Whoops, had he said that out loud? That couldn't be Jeff, right? He was in Columbus, skating his best and joking around with whoever he'd found to befriend there.

But he'd seen figures that look like Carts so many times that he didn't approach the person. Mike was tired of explaining that he'd made a mistake to people. He hated the dropping feeling in his stomach when the person turned around, and they looked nothing like his friend. Richie sighed and ran a hand over his face, trying to stop a desperate sob from escaping.

He slowly began trudging back to his apartment as he remembered that one perfect night with his friend, right before everything went wrong.

_"Mmm. J-Jeff." He moaned into the other man's shoulder, causing a shiver to run down his body. Warmth pooled deep in Mike's stomach as he nipped his best friend's chest. He knew Jeff's body almost as well as his own, he'd seen it so many times over the years._

_"Come on." Carts finally growled, he couldn't wait any longer, and they frantically stripped off their pants as they fell into the bed. Richie shivered for a moment, but then his friend's naked body covered his and everything was suddenly warm and great. He knew that nothing would be a problem now, now that they knew how they felt about each other, they could date and hold hands and have sex, and then they'd play great hockey together. Everything would be fine. Nothing would change, except Mike would be able to kiss and caress Carts whenever he wanted to now._

_Jeff hurried to pull the lube out of his bedroom drawer and Mike chuckled a little, feeling like they had all the time in the world. The slightly older man frowned as his friend laughed at him. If anything, the sound of Mike's laugh made him work faster, and soon enough Richie's laugh turned into huffing moans of breath._

_"L-love you." He moaned into the pillow as Carts came inside him, and he followed soon after, the waves of pleasure rushing through him and leaving him satiated. Jeff flopped out beside him, and looked over after a moment to grin. "That was great, right?" He asked, a shit-eating grin stretching across his face. Richie had no choice but to smile back, "That was fucking_ fantastic _." he agreed._

But fuck, that morning everything had gone wrong. Mike had woken to the terrifying sound of his phone ringing, and as he listened to the owner blather on, he shivered and tears slipped down his face. Why the fuck would the Flyers ever trade him? He was a fucking fantastic player, and he and his long-time love had just gotten their shit together.

He'd looked down at the prone figure of Jeff, still sleeping off their activities, and Mike couldn't bear to wake him and inform him that he'd be moving to L.A. the next week. So he'd snuck out, the tears still slipping down his cheeks, and went back to his apartment. He loved Jeff so fucking much that he'd just slipped away from all the potential memories they could have created, and he had faded into the background. He hadn't mentioned their night together and his confession of love, and although the hurt in Carts' eyes was almost too much to bear, at least Jeff would move on. Mike knew that the other man would eventually get over him and forget all the potential they had.

He hadn't had a choice about leaving, but at least he'd managed to not cry in front of the other man. Richie had kept it together and when he'd finally gotten on the plane for Los Angeles, no one from his team had been there to see him off, not even Jeff.

Mike winced as he remembered that plane ride. He'd spent the whole time sobbing into his arm, and once he finally slept, he'd dreamed that Carts hated him and wouldn't talk to him at all. "Watch where you're going!" Someone muttered, bringing the Kings' player back to the present, where he was walking to his apartment.

Richie finally got there, his eyes burning with unshed tears, and he carefully unlocked his door. He threw his groceries, the purpose of his trip, on the table and retreated to the living room to sob a bit. The small spark of hope that kindled in him every time he went to check his phone for messages was snuffed out, and he felt empty. Purposeless. He almost got there when the doorbell rang. Slow as an old man, he shuffled to get the door, and opened it without thinking.

"Yes?" He asked still looking down at the ground, a sharp intake of breath made him glance up, and when his gaze connected with Jeff Carter's, love flooded him once again. Sheer joy rose up in him and it took all of his control not to grab the other man in a tight hug. "Mike." the strangled noise that was his name was all that Jeff had to say after not responding to the hundreds of messages that Mike had left him.

"Jeff." He breathed it out, savouring the name, as though it would be taken away from him soon. Richie felt like a junkie, taking one last hit, before quitting entirely. "How…what?" Was the next thing that Mike said, letting the other man into his apartment.

Carts looked down and away from the frantic, intense stare that his friend was giving him. He couldn't handle the level of intensity that the other man was exuding at the moment. Mike looked like a drowning man who had been thrown a life-preserver, Jeff. "I, um, was traded to the Kings." He murmured, and suddenly all the air left him as he was caught up in a bone-crushing hug.

"Love, love, love you." Richie whisper-sobbed into his neck.

When Mike had been traded, Jeff had asked to be released, and the fucking Flyers sent him to the Blue Jackets. But finally, finally he'd gotten traded to L.A., and, although he wasn't sure about seeing Richie again, he was looking forward to playing with a decent team of guys.

"W-why didn't you?…Why…why?" Mike sobbed, holding so tightly that Jeff worried he'd suffocate.

"Why'd you just fucking leave after we had sex?" He growled back, not sure that he wanted to know. Richie pulled back, but kept one hand on Jeff's sleeve, as though he thought the other man would disappear if he didn't watch him. Their eyes met, Richie searching and Jeff angry.

"Be-because I…didn't want to hurt you." He murmured in response, the sadness in his eyes welling up again. Jeff frowned, because that wasn't a legitimate answer for why he'd spent the last six months in a constant cloud of sadness. "And-and I thought that you'd move on. I thought that if I just left, you would be mad at me and less hurt." Richie continued and he understood that. Mike had just been trying his best, and although Jeff had spent the last few months alternating between burning hot anger and cold sadness, he knew that Mike had been just as sad and lonely as he'd been.

One look at Richie and you could see the loss and sorrow in every fibre of his being. "I missed you. So much." Carts whined, leaning in to savour the smell of the other man. "Can…Will you stay here? I mean, permanently. Like, move in." Richie mumbled between kisses, and Jeff nodded vigorously, as they made their way to the couch.

The next day when they got to team practice, they walked in holding hands, and the guys just laughed. They weren't even phased by the pair making out in the locker room sometimes, although someone always broke it up before clothing came off. When Jeff and Mike got back to their apartment, Carts grinned and drew the other man into a long, sweet kiss and when they broke off panting Mike murmured "I'll be there for you from now on." and Jeff's grin grew wider.

They entered another passionate kiss before Carts responded. "Me too. I'll be there for you too, all the time." and Mike blushed, adding a muttered 'love you'. Jeff just laughed, throwing his head back as Richie frowned, but smiled along. "I love you too, Richie." He responded, looping his arm around the other man and drawing him close.

~End.  


**Author's Note:**

> I dunno...What'd you think?


End file.
